U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011!

Most of the teams have played their 1st matches of the tournament by now and here have been some of the results: in Group A South Korea defeated Mali 0-2 while the hosts thrashed France 4-1! Meanwhile, in Group B Cameroon and New Zealand tied 1-1 while Portugal and Uruguay ended their match the way it started: 0-0. In Group C Costa Rica were hammered 1-4 by Spain while Australia and Ecuador are playing as I post this. Group D is also incomplete with Nigeria's 5-0 drubbing of Guatemala on the books but Croatia v.s. Saudi Arabia is still playing out. In Group E there were more draws as Egypt were able to hold the Brazilians to a 1-1 scoreline at the end of the 1st half as well as when the full-time whistle blew. Austria v.s. Panama ended 0-0. England and North Korea finished goalless in Group F but Argentina were able to score in the 2nd half of their match to edge Mexico 1-0. Look for more posts and I encourage you to catch a game or two, they are a lot of fun!

1st day of U-20 World Cup matches TODAY.

The 2011 U-20 World Cup in Colombia starts today! The players present are most likely going to be some of the stars of tomorrow, it is sure to be a great time so try and watch as many games as possible. Cheers!

Men's U-19 European Championship 7/29/2011.

It was a brilliant day of football today as the Czech Republic faced Serbia while Spain and the Republicc of Ireland faced off in the other Semi-Final. Both were goal-filled extravaganzas but only the former was anywhere near to being close. The Czechs got off to a flying start, scoring in the 6th minute through Tomas Prikryl before Tomas Kalas added a 2nd in the 16th. 3 minutes later Tomas Jelecek scored from the spot to make it 3-0 in the Czech Republic's favor. That goal, however, seemed to spur the Serbians in to action. Rather than give up, they proceeded to score 2 goals before half-time! Both came from the deft foot of Djordje Despotović in the 23rd, and 28th minutes. It was thus 3-2 when half-time was called. The 2nd half had just 1 goal, but the Serbians really tried to equalize. They had a total of 10 chances or so throughout the game but only 2 went in. Jiri Skalak struck the Czech Republic's 4th in the 1st minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half to totally keep the Serbs out of the Final. Meanwhile, Spain were busy having their way with the hapless players of the Republic of Ireland. That isn't to say that the Irish didn't give it a good effort, they were simply out-gunned and out-maneuvered. The 4-time winning Spaniards came, they saw they conquered. Gerard Deulofeu opened the account in the 27th minute while Captain Pablo Sarabia tacked on a 2nd to close the half Spain 2 - Ireland 0. The 2nd half started badly for the Irish with Juanmi striking home in the 1st minute while Alvaro Morata added 2 late goals to make it 5-0 when the final whistle blew. To be fair to the Irish though, they didn't turn into a bunch of thugs. They committed just 5 or so more fouls than the Spanish and collected just 2 yellow cards more than Spain's 1. Expect the Final, and the 3rd place match, to be just as exciting as these Semi-Final performances!

Quick post on the U.S. Men's National Team.

Yesterday, U.S. soccer's movers and shakers decided to let Manager Bob Bradley go after 5 years, but a recent run of performances that were not in the direction U.S. soccer wants to be going. Yes, he led the lads well in the 2010 World Cup, but the team crashed and burned in the Gold Cup Final against Mexico. (They blew a 2-0 lead to lose 4-2 when the final whistle was blown if you remember.) So, who is the new National Team Coach? It appears that Juergen Klinsmann will be the man to take the helm! You may remember him as the man who helped to revolutionize the way Germany's National Team played in the 2006 World Cup? Look at the strides they've been making. His first match will be a friendly against Mexico in Philadelphia on the 10th of August and I would expect the U.S. team to win. Klinsmann has a talent for quality leadership and as long as higher-ups don't get too controlling, he might be able to work some magic with the likes of Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore. Best of luck to Klinsmann and many thanks for the memories to Bradley!

Women's U-17 European Championships in Switerland and a thank you. 7/28/2011,

Well the Semi-Finals have finished and the results are in! Iceland were defeated 0-4 by Spain while Germany and France were tied 2-2 as they went in to penalties. So then, the first game. As far as Iceland are concerned, they were just happy to be here. True, a win would have been fantastic but this was their first Final. It showed by the end of the match. Marina Garcia opened the scoring for Spain in the 12th minute while Alexia Putellas struck 2 beauties before the half. The first came in the 34th while 2 minutes later her shot ended up in the back of the net again. Glódís Perla Viggosdóttir's own goal in the 67th was unfortunate but as they game was essentially over for the Icelandic side already, she shouldn't feel as bad. As time was called, the Spaniards celebrated their trip to the Final. A couple hours later, Germany took on France to decide who would join the formidable Spanish ladies in the Final. Germany got off to a good start, scoring in the 8th minute through Lina Magull. They held on to their 1-0 lead for the rest of the 1st half, doing well not to allow the talented French side to score. As the 2nd half began, things changed. France's captain Claire Lavogez equalized 4 minutes into the half while Lydia Belkacemi put them ahead in the 60th with a nice shot. Germany then substituted Fabienne Dongus off for Annabel Jäger in the 63rd. Jäger proceeded to equalize 5 minutes after coming on. No more goals came as the game eventually made it to penalties. Both sides made their first 5 before Melanie Leupolz missed her spot kick for Germany. France went on to win the pk's 6-5. It was a great match and the Germans all played well, they were just unlucky at the end. So, we'll see Spain take on France the 31st (while Iceland and Germany face-off in the 3rd place match.) Before I post this, I'd like to say thank you to the more than 2,000 visitors to my blog! Soccer is my passion and I am glad that I can write about it with such success. Thank you for visiting, sharing it with your friends and family, and giving me feedback; I hope you all continue to enjoy reading Some Simple Soccer as much as I enjoy writing it.

Manchester United v.s. All-Stars.

Well, it was never going to be easy for the MLS All-Stars against the English Champions. While the All-Stars did have some opportunities, United almost danced their way to victory with Wayne Rooney setting-up 2 goals, Park Ji-Sung played around a defender to score once, and another coming from Danny Welbeck. The MLS looked good at first, having several chances which came to nothing. Anderson started the game rolling though, collecting a ball from Rooney in the 20th and finishing smoothly out of the reach of goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon. David Beckham actually did well for himself, nearly equalizing 2 minutes later but it came to nothing as Manchester's goalie Ander Lindegaard parried the shot away. It was in the 45th when the next goal came, this time from the dangerous foot of Park Ji-Sung. Running on to a pass from Patrice Evra, he then danced around MLS defender Sean Franklin before launching a ball into the top-right corner of the net. 2-0 for the English. Into the second half, Rooney again came up with an assist again as he swung a ball in to Dimitar Berbatov who effortlessly chipped the ball over the All-Stars' back-up goalie Tally Hall. It was denied by the wood-work. No matter, Berbatov simply controlled it down before cannoning the ball into the back of the net. So, 3-0 in the 52nd minute. Last but not least came Danny Welbeck's 68th minute strike from outside of the box. It took a wicked deflection from defender Geoff Cameron which left goalkeeper Hall hanging out to dry as the ball landed in the net. Beckham and the other All-Stars tried some other times, but to no avail. 4-0 was the scoreline when time was called. An exciting match, unless you wanted the All-Stars to win.

Manchester United v.s. the MLS All-Stars is today!

Before last year, the MLS All-Stars had done rather well for themselves against English opposition. However, that all changed last year when Manchester United wiped the field with the home side, scoring 5 times while conceding 2. This year, the Americans obviously hope it will play out a little differently. True, Landon Donovan will not be present as he has some injury issues, but either Kasey Keller or Faryd Mondragon are up for goal-keeping duties. David Beckham will be in the side as well, but I'd keep an eye out for Thierry Henry who can always pull off a piece of brilliance. Also on the All-Star team will be Red Bulls Juan Agudelo, Joel Lindpere and Tim Ream. While Rafa Marquez looked a starter, injuries count him out too. On the other side of the pitch, Manchester United don't appear to be holding anything back. Yes, Javier Hernandez might not play after playing for Mexico recently in the Gold Cup but we'll see if he decides to make an appearance. Rooney, Nani, Owen, Ferdinand, and Vidic all look like they will make appearances though. The fact that Man U have crushed all U.S. opposition thus far in their tour does not bode well for the Americans: First came the New England Revolution. The game ended 4-1 to the British. The Seattle Sounders were left out to dry as well, falling 7-0. Last but not least was Chicago who fared the best, but still lost 3-1. No matter which way it goes, it is sure to be a good game so enjoy it!